1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for the protection of objects or body parts against vibrations, in particular a vibration-damping glove or antivibration glove, including at least one vibration-damping layer.
2. Prior Art
Devices for the protection of the human body are known, for instance, as protectors for motorcyclists, which reduce the action of forces exerted on the body in the event of an accident involving crashing of the motorcyclist. DE 196 47 724 A1 describes protectors for protective motorcycle clothings, which are made of elastomers and include a base provided with elevations in the direction of the motorcyclist's body, which are aimed at providing an enhanced adaptability. Such protectors serve as protections against shocks or impacts. In order to reduce vibrations, gloves have been known, which, for instance, according to U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,045 A contain at least two layers of a damping material, one layer consisting of a viscoelastic material and one layer consisting of a foamed material. Another glove construction according to U.S. Pat. No. 5,537,688 A includes a plurality of interconnected liquid-containing blisters. Moreover, there are gloves for the protection against heat and mechanical influences, such as, for instance, the configuration according to WO 93/05670 A1, or gloves exhibiting an enhanced grip and adherence. Such a glove, in particular a goaltender's glove, is described, for instance, in WO 95/34228 A1.
The field of the present invention relates to both the protection of objects against vibrations and the protection of at least parts of the human or animal body. Whatever the cause of vibrations may be, in most cases it is moved systems which bring about undesired vibrations as side effects. By appropriately constructing the moved systems, it is sought to keep such vibrations low or shift the frequencies of vibrations to ranges in which they involve fewer drawbacks. It is, however, not possible to exlude vibrations completely. Therefore, various attempts have been made to prevent the transmission of vibrations to other objects or on man, or admit only a reduced portion of the same.
In particular, the operation of vibrating tools such as, e.g., grinding machines or the like, frequently leads to temporary or chronical injuries of the persons operating those machines. Such injuries are known as hand arm vibration syndrome. The consequences of such injuries are high sickness figures, low outputs and claims for damages, which constitute high economic losses.
The field, however, is not limited to vibrating machines. The devices, for instance, may serve also for protecting against vibrations in vehicles or the like.
In terms of frequency, vibrations may be subdivided into those occurring in the medium frequency range of approximately 31.5 to 200 Hz and those occurring in the high frequency range of above 200 Hz. Currently available protective devices such as, e.g., antivibration gloves are designed such that medium frequency range vibrations will not be increased and high frequency range vibrations will be lowered to a certain percentage. There have been known a number of antivibration gloves which cause the damping of vibrations by means of different materials in different material thicknesses. Thus, it is, for instance, possible to insert shaped parts of polyurethane, elastomers, silicon gel or polyolefine in a glove. In order to achieve sufficient vibration damping, those shaped parts in most cases are very thick, thus extremely restricting maneuverability. This cannot be tolerated in the application as a glove. If, on the other hand, the shaped parts are made so thin as to involve no substantial restriction of the freedom of motion, vibration damping will be insufficient. There are also known cases in which the device for the protection against vibrations will even increase the latter in certain frequency ranges.